meteor; shooting star; falling star
A small body from space that burns up upon entering the Earth's atmosphere, producing a streak of light. Common in both scientific and everyday contexts.
A shooting star streaked across the night sky.
I saw a shooting star last night.
The meteor shower peaks tonight.
You can see shooting stars well from up on the mountain.
It's said that if you make a wish on a shooting star, your dream will come true.
隕石 is a meteorite that actually reaches the ground, whereas 流星 is only the streak of light seen as it burns up in the atmosphere.
流星 is a meteor or shooting star, a brief streak of light in the atmosphere, while 彗星 is a comet, a body that orbits the Sun and can develop a coma or tail.
From Middle Chinese 流星 (liúxīng), literally 'flowing star'. The Japanese reading りゅうせい is the Sino-Japanese on'yomi.